I've been half joking for months that Doc should sit Shaq for the remainder of the regular season in preparation for the playoff run. Now I'm dead serious. First off, Shaq was not brought here for the second half of the season. He was brought here to fill in for Perk until he got back and for the playoff run. He's exceeded expectations this year, but it is time for the big Shamrock to take a seat until the May flowers bloom.

The fact is we don't need Shaq for the rest of the season. At most, we lose 1 or 2 more games in his absence. I think Perk and Erden are enough to fill the void until then. It might be for the best in some ways as it will get Perk more reps and give him a chance to get back into form. By the way, although Perk has played well, he is still far from what he was last year. He'll get there though.

The bottom line is, there is a lot more to lose than gain by playing Shaq the rest of the year. Make no mistake about it, without Shaq we are not going to win the title. Shaq isn't as important as the Big 4, but he will be the reason we win at least 1 big game in the playoffs. A fresh Shaq with a rejuvenated Perk and a healthy Delonte will not be beaten in a 7 game series.

I know this isn't going to happen but if you are reading this Doc(and why wouldn't you be, this site is awesome at life)sit the big man down. Here's to hoping the big Shamrock assumes the role of Scal the rest of the regular season and becomes Superman again in the playoffs.

17 Responses so far.

I want to garantee you he will be paced properly for the rest of the season, but to sit him for the rest of the season is a little bit over the edge, but he's probally going to be playing 10-15 mins a night after All-Star break, and have 2nd nights of back-to-backs off, and sit for stretches, DOC is a genius at pacing his players!!!! But I agree with this article totally!

I understand Shaq needing rest (you know, cause he is MEGA 'OLD'), but disagree with DNPs for the rest of the season. We still could get like 10-15mis out of him a game so he can get some key rebounds, block some shots, or a dunk or two. I dont want the C's slow-rolling thru the 2nd half of the season like they did last year - ending up 4th in the East and not having home court in that disgrace of a game when we lost (Gm7).

I think if there is a game or two when his sore calves or achilles are bothering him, sit him out those few games and then get him back into the lineup as soon as possible. We need all the guys we got to get the best record possible and try to stay atop the East.

Good read, def not a bad idea, but I can't see doc doing it. When shaq comes back, he doesn't need to play more than 10 minutes. As the article states and we need him for the playoffs. At the same time we need to get the number 1 seed as we know what happened last year.Does shaq get us that? Prolly not but he doesn't hurt us. but still we need him for the playoffs especially given how often he gets hurt. Doc listen to this man

Well i remember a game and he had like 25pts and 12 rebs i think. I mean, he obviously wont put that up every night, but you never know when he will have a scoring outburst. Im not saying we need a bunch of big scoring games from Shaq, but they really dont hurt!

All im saying is, NOT SIT HIM UNTIL MAY/APRIL, play him limited. His presence will be needed with our 2nd unit once the playoffs start.

agreed Chuck. Really I was just trying to take a little different view on this,haha. If I said play Shaq in a limited role, well everyone knows that to be true. I think he had that 25 and 12 game a few months ago but could be wrong. If we can play him 10 minutes a game and he doesn't further his injury I'm cool with that.

Shaq won't be asked to give us 25 and 12, same as with KG. Shaq just needs to give us 15 min per night, his presence alone is a good element for our C's. He opens the floor for other players (notably KG), blocks, intimidates and rebounds. And we need him to win games, not just one or two. He helps us.

While I agree that he needs to rest his body, I disagree that we need to sit him until the playoffs. If I were Doc I will play him tomorrow and Sunday (provided he is available) and then rest him til March. Or if he is hurt now then rest him til the next road trip.

He needs rest, but not that much rest. He needs to keep within the system and the team. And the C's need him too during the regular season

You don't count JO into the mix, do you. Can't say I blame you. Though I think now it is the critical phase when Shaq stops being the starter and becomes a reserve and even though Shaq seems to understand his role and all and he isn't Rasheed he might get a bit complacent.BTW the picture is hilarious.http://www.sg1.cz/postavy/images/tealc.jpg